Pa. funeral director sentenced to more jail time

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania funeral director has been sentenced to additional prison time on convictions of abusing corpses.

Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker sentenced 42-year-old Benjamin Siar Jr. earlier this month to five to 10 years on theft and deceptive business practices and ordered him to pay $160,000 restitution.

Lancaster Newspapers (http://bit.ly/1dQ6ru6 ) reports that the judge imposed an additional one to four years Wednesday on four counts of abuse of a corpse.

Defense attorney Alan Goldberg said the sentence was longer than he expected but didn’t know whether an appeal was planned.

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Siar has been behind bars since February 2013 following the discovery of four decomposing bodies inside Gundel Funeral Home in Conestoga. Prosecutors said he was paid more than $13,000 for funeral and cremation services that weren’t performed.